Case 1: Developing A Purpose For Questioning: The Case of Jacob

This case shares the experience of Jacob (a pseudonym), a senior elementary education teacher candidate. The semester prior to his student teaching internship, Jacob engaged in a two day per week field experience in a suburban fourth-grade classroom. He was also taking four methods courses that spanned content areas and a fifth course designed to support teacher candidates in their field placements. While this placement afforded significant time to observe and interact with students, the part-time nature of the placement meant that Jacob had minimal opportunities to observe entire learning sequences. Additionally, Jacob expressed that he sometimes felt he had limited influence over the learning environment or expectations for students, limited opportunity to choose tasks, and limited time to act as the facilitator of student learning. However, because number talks are brief 10- to 15-minute learning activities, Jacob was able to engage in multiple number talks with students in his field placement.